Kiss from a Rose
by Vader'sMistress
Summary: Three-Shot. Spin off my other story Treason by Parentage, on my other account. Mary Tudor receives a surprise visit by two sisters who make her a proposition. It's too good to be true, but will Mary accept? Or will she fall victim to her greed as her parents?
1. Chapter 1

"When I was very little my father used to carry me in his arms, he used to tell me that I was his favorite. I said 'but I am your only child, daddy' then he looked at the child next to me and I knew. My father was just like my lady mother said to her best lady in waiting, Lady Willoughby, a man who plants his seed in every belly he sees fit. 'Because he's the king that's why' Lady mother said. And I was too stupid to realize the truth. My father, my own father locked me in this room for doing the exact same thing he did and continues to do with every woman that crosses his path!" She laughed madly. "It's a miracle that he doesn't do it with every man." Though she wouldn't be surprised. Some men liked to fuck everything that moved.

"My lady if you continue like this, it could upset the child."

Mary pushed her away. "Do you think I care what my child thinks? It will be born a bastard just like me and hated by everyone just like me!" She laughed madly. "I should have known my father was never going to honor his promise. He was always telling my aunt and my namesake that he'd married her to whomever he liked." She laughed harder. "That in itself was a sign he was going to stab her in the back just like he did with his grandfather when he promised him he'd never married the Spanish Princess. Henry VII would have let my mother rot if it wasn't for my father. He went against his councilors' advice and married her and then invented that story that he begged him to marry her. I should have known he would have never let me out of here." She knelt to the floor. "I am going to die here. My baby is going to die with me."

"Mary, you are not doing yourself any favors. I beg of you, please return to bed. If your father comes and visits you in this state, he will have all our heads, not just yours."

"I don't care. I want him to suffer just as I suffered and I want every one of his subjects so he can see what it feels to have nothing left."

Susan didn't say anything. Her friend was speaking out of grief. After another long rant, she managed to get Mary to rest. A snowy owl and golden bird watched as the former Princess of Wales slept. Everyone was unaware of their existence except for Mary. She had these guardian angels watch over her, her entire life. When she was sad or felt unable to join her hands in prayer, she turned to them knowing she could always rely on them. This time however, her heart felt completely empty.

There was nothing. No sorrow, no hatred. Nothing.

Nothing would save her. She was going to die and her lover was going to die as well. I was so stupid. She thought. To fall in love and not face the consequences. All these years she had confronted Anne Boleyn, her father's countless other mistresses and felt superior because of her blood, her lineage and her virtue but she turned out to be the same as them.

Climbing out of the bed and stepping into one of the boxes someone carelessly left behind, she put her hands on the stained glass. Tomorrow she would watch him walk toward the scaffold. Her father would be there. The bastard couldn't miss a spectacle like this. And the day after it would be her turn.

"Someone please save me." She said, getting down and back into her bed.

"Just say the word and we will." Mary looked up and saw those birds again. She narrowed her eyes. Have I finally gone mad? Guessing her thoughts the two birds shook their heads lightly. The snowy owl passed through the window followed by her sister, the golden bird.

"What … How can this be?"

"Search your heart Your Highness, you will find all your answers there."

Mary closed her eyes. She was back to when she was a baby. A memory she had revisited when she met her husband, and a second time when she married her lover, a year after Philip died.

 _Her mother tucked her in her sleep. She kissed her head. Or so she thought. The image changed and she saw a woman with hair as white as her face. Her eyes an icy blue. She was beautiful, she thought and raised her hands to her. Her skin felt cold but when she kissed her again, she felt warm. Another woman came. She was even more beautiful but her heart was cold, devoid of any love and warmth and Mary began to cry._

 _"She will do." She said and touched her forehead. Mary felt pain and screamed for help. Her body was on fire and then just as it had come, it stopped._

She opened her eyes and returned to the present. "It was you. You were the ones watching over me."

"We had to." Ravena said. "You were always looking after us when nobody else wanted. After we lost our powers, we were in danger of being hunted by the Inquisitors. But you saved us with your laughter. You have a great power Princess and you will pass that power to your children."

"I don't get it … My children? How-How can you know what I am having? The best doctors haven't been able to determine that."

"The doctors are steeped in religion, you are too smart to fall for that." Ravena transformed back into her human form. "Or maybe you are still stupid. Your grandmother certainly was and look where she is now."

"Sister." Freya chastised, glaring at her. She morphed back into her human form as well. "We cannot stop what has been started. The curse that killed my child didn't kill her spirit, it was reborn in you."

"I-I don't understand."

"I told you she'd be too stupid. I should have cast a bigger curse on her." Ravena said sitting on one of the empty chairs. She put a spell on her silly maids so they wouldn't wake up until the following morning. "Pity, she is the fairest of them all. At least she will die still fair."

Mary paled as she said the word 'die' and put her hand on her stomach.

Ravena put her hand on her cheek. Once again, despite it being cold, it filled her with warmth. "You will die but your children won't. The future of this world and our family will rest with them. We will protect them I promise."

"I don't want to part with them. Please, if you are who you say you are, save them."

Freya withdrew her hand, smiling and giving her a look of disappointment at her daughter. She had reincarnated into a life of royalty, where she was meant to inherit her father's kingdom, but once again, fate had acted against her. The only thing that could save her was her children.

"We cannot. It has been decided." Freya said, and like before, turned her back on her daughter along with her sister, and disappeared into the night.

* * *

"When my mother was young she said she used to play with her brother Charles endlessly and her twin sister Eleanor. She would whisper into the night 'look at me, I am here'. My grand-aunt Marguerite would watch over them and express how proud she was of them." Mary smiled as she looked down at her two babies. "One day you will see all of it. Your half brother will take you there, and you will see the world for what it is and not what your granddaddy thinks of it."

Susan looked with worry at her friend. She was losing her sanity. Her stepson had come to visit her and promised that he'd take good care of her babies, but she was unsure he would. He hated her. Eustace said he would not be kind to her. He never liked sugarcoating the facts, but he hoped that if his scheme worked, then he'd think differently of her. Unfortunately that didn't happen and he blamed her for what she and his father were about to face.

He looked so much like him. He even acted like him. His bearing, the way he passed his hand through his hair, it was like looking back at a younger version of Eustace Chapuys, that she thought she was dreaming when she saw him.

 _"Eustace?"_

 _"No, my name is Etienne Lemaitre." He said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance Madame."_

 _Mary nodded. Of course. He looked so much like him, but his hair was darker and his eyes didn't bear the warmth that Eustace bore her every time they lay together, or the amusement he gave to his betters when he confronted them and made them look foolish. This young man bore her nothing but hatred and evy._

 _She was his age, a royal born and bred. Her father was known for his cunningness, he would have never risked his life for anyone, much less someone his master cared less since his wife, the Empress, died. It had to be witchcraft, what other explanation could there be?  
Mary wished she could tell him the truth, but she suspected that even if she could, he wouldn't believe her._

 _Mary placed a hand instinctively on her stomach as the guards stepped away and let him get closer to her. "Why have you come here?"_

 _"The King asked me here, and I received a special passport from His Imperial Highness your cousin, to look over your child once it is born."_

 _She should have guessed that was it. Hope surged through her and she gave him a smile of gratitude. "Thank you for doing this, you do not know how much this means to me-"_

 _"Not for you." He interrupted her._

 _"For my father. I am doing it for my father and for my brother or sister's sake who are in no way guilty of any of this."_

 _She recognized the hatred he bore for her as his dark green eyes bore into her dark grey ones.  
"I am sorry if I have caused you any pain."_

 _"My father loves you. He loves you as he never loved me or my mother. He is dying for you. He could …" There were tears in his eyes. "He could save himself, there are ways to save him, not you but him. He is dying because he can't live without you, because he will follow you wherever you go."_

 _"I am sorry." She sniffed, wishing to cry but no tears came. "I never meant this to happen."_

 _"None of your supporters meant this to happen. I am sure of that 'Your Highness'. Many of them are still mourning their loved ones' deaths who haven't been given a proper burial, whose heads have now begun to rot."_

 _"Before you judge me more, tell my child that I will always be with him or her and tell it that I love him."_

 _"She or he will know that. I will make sure it knows who its parents are, that they died together because they loved each other."_

 _Mary smiled weakly at Eustace's son. "Thank you" she whispered and then returned to bed feeling extremely tired._

Mary felt deeply ashamed after he left. She dreamt of him, refusing to hold her child after it was born. And her child lifting its arms, begging for someone to hold it but nobody came. No doubt her stepson had been disturbed by her lack of emotion. _'She never cries'_ her father had said. When Etienne stepped closer to her, wishing to feel the baby's kick, she tried to will the tears down her cheeks but they never came. Am I being cold? Unfair to this poor youth? He left her rooms disappointed. His father was languishing in a worse room than her, and here she was, unable to shed one tear for the man who'd risked everything for her.

 _What sort of life my children will have?_ She kissed their foreheads and lulled them to sleep. The girl was just like Eustace, fearless and watchful of everything, while her son was impatient like her.

"I swear to you. I will never let you go." If what Ravena and Freya said was true, then her soul would live on and whatever happened, she would watch over them.

Freya and Ravena would take good care of them, but she couldn't trust them. The two sisters wanted them because they'd cursed Mary with their gifts so she could pass it unto them. It stung, but she took the risk of leaving them with their brother.  
As much as he blamed her, Etienne would love and protect them and keep them safe from court intrigues; and if their powers manifested, he'd made sure to keep them hidden from the public.

The door to her room opened. Lord Hertford and Sir Henry Seymour came in and told her they'd come for the children. She nodded and steeling herself, handed them, telling them their names so their brother would know.

Mary's heart broke into a thousand pieces as she heard their wails. Is this what my grandmother felt when they executed Thomas More? Catherine of Aragon had been a formidable woman. She'd taken care of her when her mother was unable to. She read to her and prayed with her. She was well into her forties when she gave birth to her last child, a child who was now the mockery of court but her father still kept around, to remind everyone of his generosity.

She thanked God that he was not going to do the same to her children.

Tomorrow Eustace would witness her husband and lover be executed. She didn't wish to see his head roll down the wooden platform into the stone cold floor, but another part of her, the one (she guessed) she inherited from Freya, wanted to, so she could feel hatred for her father and wouldn't be filled with fear when she faced hers.

She smirked as she thought of Ravena and Freya's faces when they learn what she'd done. Her last days would be a living hell, assaulted by nightmares and forced to relive every beating, every threat she faced with her first and fourth stepmother, but she didn't care. For once in her life, she had done something that was of value to another person and that brought her peace.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Eustace?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"Are you sure this is going to work?"_

 _"I am sure of it. You have nothing to burden yourself with. If it is discovered, the blame will fall on me. Your children will be safe and you can be free to marry whoever you like."_

 _"There is no one I want to marry more than you." She said, their lips touched, he put his arms around her tiny waist bringing her closer to him. They had waited. Five years they lived between stares and silent smiles, hiding their love from her father, her husband and her children and then when the moment came to act upon it, her father had told her that he had another match in mine._

 _She was tired of being sold to, and treated like a brood mare. She was a woman, a royal one at that. In spite of what the rest thought, she was still the eldest offspring of the King of England. More royal blood ran through her veins than her siblings combined. And her children were just that -children. They could never inherit the throne as long as she lived._

 _'I shall be Queen. Just like mama wanted.'_

Mary woke up and found herself on her cell again. She wiped a tear from her eye. "You should have given us the baby." Ravena said. "In Chapuys' hands we will never have it and she will learn the same baseless nonsense the rest of your family – "

"Stop it! I am tired of these talks; I am tired of these arguments. My son and daughter are not tools for you and your icy sister to use. They are my children, born out of love and I know it in my heart that they are safer with their brother than with you."

"Half-brother." Ravena corrected. "He will never see them as his brother and sister. To him, they will always be the son and daughter of the woman who corrupted his father and caused his death. They will grow up in shame and when their powers manifest, people will fear them and curse them and burn them just like my brother in law burned my niece."

"I was burned because of you. My father loved me. You turned my mother into that monster. When you finally realized your mistake you brought me back from the dead. Is this what makes you happy? Seeing me suffer? Your own flesh and blood."

"Please! I gave you a better life than you would have had as my niece. Believe me you wouldn't have liked it. After I was defeated by Snow White and her army of dwarves and Huntsman, you would have suffered the same fate as I. Now, you are a princess. Or at least you would still be if you had listened to me instead of going with your heart like Catherine."

"At least I made a choice. I chose family." Mary said. "I might not have had the golden life with you as my aunt, but I didn't have such a golden life as the daughter of Henry and Isabella. Henry VIII was always cruel to me, his endless cajoling of my maids and my mother's, brought humiliation to us both. And when he took my children away from me, threatening me to take me from the line of succession if I didn't marry old, syphilis ridden Francois, that was the last straw."

"Queens are not meant to be happy my dear. You should have learned from your mothers. Freya lost everything to love, your mother too and so did your grandmother. She also made a choice and it was your father. You are after all a girl, and though she had big plans for you, she still clung to the belief that her son would come to her senses. Poor Spanish Princess, so much ambition wasted away by love and faith."

"You are lying. My grandmother would have never chosen my father over me."

"Oh, but she did." Ravena said and showed her the secret conversation her mother had with her chief lady in waiting, Lady Willoughby. After it was over, Mary shook her head vigorously.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Truth always hurts, but it will set you free. All you need to do to avoid your twins a life of pain and shame is give us permission and we will take them, and then this world can be theirs for eons to come."

It was tempting. Mary almost said yes. Almost. _My children, King and Queen. But look at who will reign over them._ Could she trust Ravena and Freya to keep their word? Would Ravena do the same unto them if they followed their hearts, like Freya did when she married without her sister's permission?

Will they burn their babies too? It was too risky. " ** _Remember who you are Mary. La hija de Isabel Habsburgo y Enrique VIII de Inglaterra. En tus venas, corre la sangre de los reyes Catolicos y eres descendiente de las casas mas antiguas de Europa. Algun dia seras reina." [1]_**

Oh mother, she mentally prayed. I wish I could make our dreams come true but if I do this it would mean giving up my soul. She had already dishonored herself once, she wasn't going to do it again. Eustace had lost everything because of her. Their children had the potential for greatness, they could rule this earth and make it whatever they wanted to be, but in the process many lives could be lost.  
I can't live with that on my conscience. Her mother had risked everything so she would grow up to be a good and just queen. If she couldn't fulfill her mother's wishes to be queen, at least she would live by her code and be good.

She told Ravena no.

Ravena became livid. "You foolish girl! Do you have any idea what me and your ancient mother did so you could be reincarnated? Do you even know what you have? Your line, our legacy could live on. This wretched world could be theirs. Everyone who harmed you would finally pay." She finally calmed down. Hearing the heavy footstalls she transformed into a golden bird. "Love. What a waste." Before her door was opened and her new maids came in, Ravena said lastly "Mark my words dear Mary, blood always wins. In time your children will realize what they are and they will make a choice." Then she flew away.

* * *

Alice FitzMore spotted a young handsome man sitting in one of the tables below. She asked her brother if she could greet him. "Nay, Alice. You are better off here playing with your niece and nephew."

"But Your Majesty, they are no fun. All they talk about are clothes and swords. I want to hear what he has to say. He is very fair." She said, blushing as he turned their way.

Her brother disapproved and reminded her that as the King's sister, she had to be on her best behavior. "But I am just a bastard, I do not have to hold myself to the same rules of conduct as your royal peers."

Henry frowned. She had too much of her father in him. It was always hard to look at her without being reminded of his real father and their mother when she learned she had sent him to the scaffold. She never forgave him and cursed him afterwards.  
The hardest part came when he arrived at Kimbolton to check on his newborn sister. In spite of the poor conditions his mother lived in, she did her best to make sure her bastard daughter was treated like a Princess.

 **~o~**

 **[FLASHBACK]**

 _"Mother." Henry said walking into her bedchamber. He thanked God that she was dressed appropriately. After hearing countless rumors, he'd not be surprised if she had another lover in her bed._

 _Seeing the look on his face, his mother scowled. "What are you doing here Henry? Haven't you humiliated me enough? First you kill Thomas, your fa-"_

 _"Don't say it." His voice had an icy tone to it that scared some of her maids and made them walk away. His mother told them to stay. "Unlike you Henry, I can trust my ladies. They will not betray their Princess." She cooed her daughter after she started crying. "It's alright sweet-cheeks, your mama is here." She sang to Alice and the babe immediately closed her eyes, sleeping soundly. "Isn't she beautiful, Henry? She reminds me of you when you were little."_

 _"I know. You've told me the story many times."_

 _"You were so little and slept so soundly. They always say 'it's the terrible ones. They were always terrible. We should have known'. Bunch of nonsense. You were such a jolly little fellow and you were so happy. And then they took you from me. I used to blame Lady Richmond and Henry Tudor but I was so young, in my teens. I had no idea … When you were crowned King of England, it was the happiest day of my life and when you married Isabella …" She looked down at her sleeping child. "I prayed long may they reign. I suppose it is all my fault. When Thomas and I met at the church, his daughter overheard us. He told me 'You put a bastard on the throne of England.' I was angry. How dare he. But now I often wonder if he is right and this is the price for what I did. Then again" she said looking at him again. "it could all be you. Human nature I suppose. Some people are meant to be evil, others not."_

 _She kissed her daughter's forehead and walked to Henry. "Why are you here Henry?"_

 _Henry didn't answer her, instead he made a gesture and his guards came forward. "What? No! No! Henry! No! Not my daughter! Henry, please she is my baby." The guards managed to wrestle her out of her arms. "Noooo!" Her cries combined with her daughter's, Henry turned away and ordered his men to give him his sister._

 _"Damn you Henry! Damn you and your whole brood!"_

 **~o~**

That was the last time the two saw each other. Two weeks later she died. Alice was in the custody of the Mores for a while until her namesake, Lady Alice Middleton died and her stepchildren proved unable to look after her. Henry could have let her rot, but he felt an obligation to her. She was after all his blood, and as the daughter of a King, he couldn't let her be raised by rebels.

The first years were hard to get used to. He would try and avoid her as much as he could but one day he found her playing with his younger daughter Bess. She looked so normal, so pure, naïve. Right there, he committed himself to protect her, to keep her ignorant of her parents. He prohibited any books written by Sir Thomas More in her study, in the school room. She was only to learn what his son Edward and his grandchildren Eric and Alberta learned. Alice didn't like that. She constantly asked about her father. But Henry always deflected the question.

"You are the daughter of a King, as such you must ask befitting your station. Now go and sit down next to Alberta and Bess."

She sighed. "Fine."

Henry looked down at the young man seated below. Chapuys' brat. The spitting face of his father except his eyes were different. He guessed he got it from his mother. He'd briefly caught a glimpse of his younger grandchildren. They looked a lot like their father as well, but their eyes were like his and Mary's.

Eyes were the window of the soul. And no matter what, it was the eyes that always told where you came from.

He had been disgusted when he learned about his daughter's affair, but more disgusted when he learned about her betrayal. At first he wanted to believe that it was Chapuys who put her up to that but the evidence didn't lie. Her daughter, proud like her mother, and a whore like her grandmother.

* * *

That night Etienne watched over his siblings. Siblings. He was eighteen! He was not that much younger than his stepmother. Good God! What had his father been thinking?! He has always been very objective, a clear thinker. And he risked it all for a woman and a royal at that!

He was about to throw his goblet across his siblings' room when he remembered how sensitive they were. They were disturbed by every little noise and as if that wasn't enough, every time he wasn't with them at night, they would start crying. Things would fall off, his servants would wake up and everyone would fight each other.

"Two days and I already am at patience's end." He swore underneath his breath as the two woke up and wailed. "Mother of Christ!" These two were going to be the end of him. "Would you please shut up!"

The girl wailed harder. "Fine, fine! I am here. You want me to sing a song? To yell? I can yell. What do you want me to do?" His half sister wailed harder. He dropped his hands in the air. "I give up."

And then it stopped. He turned around and saw his two siblings looking at him. "What the … You … you can understand me?" His siblings looked at one another, made hand signals then laughed. He rolled his eyes. "Great, now I am imagining things. Just … let me sleep for this night at least."

His siblings said nothing more. Their poor brother was exhausted, he'd be no fun in this state so they slept as well, letting him have a dreamless sleep, free of worries and the emotions that plagued him since he arrived to England.

* * *

Eustace looked at his locket. The King allowed him to keep it. He doubted that he'd let his son or his younger children have it. He heard his son had acted as their godfather with Mary's sister as her godmother.

Fleming informed him that the two had been named after celebrated Greek rulers, Artemisia I of Caria and Alexander the Great. He smiled bitterly. At least they will grow up safe. He hated the idea of them being raised by their grandfather. The man was a snake, it was a pity that he didn't take Mary with him to Annency when he had the chance. We could've been so happy together.

He forced himself up, gripping his cane. Tomorrow he'd be executed. He recalled when Etienne visited him.

 **~o~**

 _"Excellency," the warden said, opening his door. "You have a visit."_

 _He frowned and stood looking at the door._

 _"Who?" He asked. His eyebrows rose with surprise as he stepped in. "Etienne?"_

 _What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Antwerp, he had not seen him for so long, it was amazing to see how much he had grown._

 _"What are you doing here?" Stepping closer, Eustace saw how alike the two were. Same face, same hair as when he'd been young, and same skin color. The only thing that was different were his eyes. Green-Brown like his mother who had died giving birth to him._

 _He saw the pain in his eyes. Etienne always thought so highly of him, and seeing him now like this, brought so low, was akin to someone stabbing him in the heart._

 _"The Emperor and Granvelle requested my presence in this country, also Francis Van Der Defelt, your replacement since your arrest, did as well. They are all very concerned to your refusal to accept Cranmer's decision that your marriage to the Duchess Dowager is invalid. The Pope has invalidated your union as well."_

 _"That's why you came?"_

 _"I came to see you. In all reality, it was Van Der Defelt who should be here. I convinced him to let me come."_

 _Eustace laughed lightly, why didn't that surprise him? Etienne's tutors always said he could sense when something wasn't right._

 _"Father you are prolonging your suffering and hers as well by denying the council and His Holiness' decision. I don't like seeing you like this." His son stated. He sat next to his father. "You gain nothing. If you just accept what everyone is saying, they can find a way to get you out of here."_

 _"I can't Etienne." Eustace said gravely. "I can't. And even if I could I would rather die than to let her face death alone."_

 _"Father, they are going to kill you. Look around you, look at yourself! Is this what you really want?" His son yelled looking directly into his eyes. "You can't save her. She made her choice. Let her rot, die. She is not yours to take care of anymore."_

 _"It's my fault she is here. If I lived I would never live with my conscience knowing I was responsible for her death and the death of my unborn child. Besides, this conversation is useless. Henry is not going to let me go. He is going to kill me and make me an example to all future diplomats who dare to cross the line. Do you really think I am here because I married her? I am here because I was involved in a plot to overthrow the king and split the country in two." Eustace explained. "He could let me go for the marriage, he could let us both go for that. But he will never let us go for conspiring against him."_

 _"Maybe not both."_

 _Eustace tilted his head, having a dark suspicion of where this was going._

 _"Maybe you could say that you no had no idea and that your involvement was only due to your marriage. You were tricked since the beginning and your 'wife' only mentioned it on the day you were arrested. Makes sense. You said you loved her and the thought of betrayal is something that you cannot live with."_

 _Eustace could have smirked and feel proud at his son, he had the same conniving spirit as him, but this was not like other times. He was disgusted by what he was proposing._

 _"It is your only chance." Etienne stressed._

 _"Etienne, I love her. I would rather die than live without her." Then he added "I am old and with gout. I would die anyway, especially if the Emperor forced me to stay here. It was a matter of time."_

 _"The great Eustace Chapuys is giving up?" He asked with a denouncing tone. "For a woman? Father please think this through … don't leave this world, it is not your time, don't leave us."_

 _"Us?"_

 _"You probably know. All these months and the King has not killed you both yet. He is waiting for the Dowager Duchess to give birth. It is the other reason why I came here."_

 _"I suspected." He said. "Will you … Is there any plan in relation to the child?" He asked, forcing himself not to sound weak. He couldn't lose his composure, not even in front of his son. If he gained custody, he would face a lot of hard times and it didn't benefit him to remember him miserable, cowering and crying._

 _Etienne did not look at him._

 _"Etienne come on, it cannot be much worse than what I have imagined."_

 _He still refused to look at his father, his hands were clasped tightly._

 _"The King is considering, mad as this suggestion is and not many people approve. (Those who do are of the conservative faction.) To have the child stay here with me. I would be given your old homestead and apartments at the embassy. But you don't have to worry about that since not many are in favor of this plan and I sincerely pray that if she lives through this delivery, she has only one and it is a girl."_

 _Eustace didn't miss the disdain in his voice every time he referred to her. "I hope it is a boy and he is raised by you." Though he didn't disregard the possibility of twins. Mary refused astrologists, saying they were charlatans. Chapuys partly agreed, but he had met interesting people. He didn't believe in magic but he believed in what he saw and he had seen some of them done great things, including his late friend, Agrippa. Before he died, he said that Eustace's legacy would be carried by his three children. Eustace thought it was product of the tonics his friend was given during his final moments. But maybe he saw this.  
He laughed mentally. 'You'd think the first thing he would write was about his.' But would he listen? Eustace was a cynic and a damn proud one. But Mary was always his weak spot and recalling the times they'd been together, he didn't regret a thing. If given the chance to go back in time, he would have done the same things. 'I would have killed a thousand men to remain by her side.' And in theory he still could. If she wasn't pregnant, he could maneuver a way out of this cell through his connections in the North and stir a rebellion in her name._

 _He smiled at his son. "I am very proud of you. There is no one on Earth that I would trust more with a child of mine."_

 _His son was having a hard time keeping it together. "I am going to die." He moved his hand to take his son's. "My time here is past. I have made mistakes, I've made terrible things and I've made people happy, I've made many good things. You are one of those good things." Knowing what his son was thinking when his expression darkened, Eustace advised him not to take it out against his sibling. "He or she will be your brother and sister, your blood and he or she will be innocent."_

 _"How can I forget when it is one of the reasons you are here. If you never fell in love with her, if she didn't grab you with her claws you would not have been here."_

 _"I would have. I would've plotted anyway. The only difference is that I would've done it because she was my master's cousin. I did it instead because I love her. Perhaps you should stay here for a while and if not then leave. Don't resent anyone. Don't resent me or her, because if there is one thing all this has taught me is that life is not something we can predict. I've always said I wouldn't fell prey to love or passion but I did. Life is not something we can predict. Don't judge son." He whispered._

 _His son was unable to contain his tears. "You think me worthy of raising her child."_

 _"Not hers Etienne." Eustace reminded him. "Mine. It is not in you to hate and yes I think you are worthy and capable."_

 _"What will I say to it -I mean him or her when I am asked about you I don't want to tell my sibling that you died this way.."_

 _"Tell him that his father fell in love with his mother and that he didn't want to leave her. And he chose to go with her, to follow her wherever she would go."_

 _Etienne closed his eyes and embraced him. "Dad I will need your strength when I am with my brother."_

 _"I will be with you." He said. He was now crying too. "I will always be with you and with him. Always. I will always help you. When you talk to me, Etienne, I will be listening, I will help you. I will give you strength."_

 _Etienne promised his father that he would eradicate the hatred he felt for Mary for his sibling's sake and that he would never hold any grudges against him._

 _"I love you son. I love you Etienne. Never doubt that." He said kissing his son's forehead._

 **~o~**

His son had been partly right. If it hadn't been for Mary, he wouldn't be here. But he wasn't one to blame others for his mistakes. They were his own, he could have easily avoided all this mess but he didn't want to. He loved Mary and after the two finally admitted their love for each other, he began writing to Granvelle, his son and finally his master, to convince them to form a Holy League and send weapons to the Northern Rebels. "The North," he wrote, "is the key to victory."' Once Mary was crowned Queen, he would take holy orders* and serve the church in England.  
Charles V was bewildered by this. He could tell as much in his letter. He probably thought it impossible that the great Eustace Chapuys could give up an opportunity such as this, for someone else.

The Emperor clearly didn't know him. Eustace had done many things that he wasn't proud of. He saw people as tools, as means to an end, but his family was another matter. He'd cut his veins if it meant saving them.

 _This is going to be my last act of defiance._ Henry VIII would not get any tears from him. Lord Hertford who'd escort him to the courtyard, would not see a weak man, begging him and his brothers for help. The English people would not see a man, old and sick, plagued by gout.

He smiled, thinking of the last time he had looked at Henry in the eye. It was right after he told him that he felt too sick to bow before his Queen. He nearly slapped him but Eustace stared at him, his eyes daring him to do so. Come on, do it! They said. The blow never came and Henry forced himself to go back to the dais, next to his wife.

It was one of his greatest triumphs. The Emperor knew he was the man for the job after that.

If only I hadn't left when I did. Charles needed him in Antwerp and he had traveled to Savoy as well, his brother was dying and he needed to be there. ** During that time Philip, Duke of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach, came. He wasn't a Catholic but neither was he a Protestant. Like Henry's fourth wife, he stuck to the sacrament, supported the Emperor in his fight against the Turks, and was a renowned hero in his homeland, but like so many German Princes he didn't like the Pope meddling in his business. Naturally, Henry liked him. Cromwell would have preferred someone more Protestant but he'd been warned by Mary herself that she would marry no one unless it was to her liking.  
Whatever Philip did when he met her, worked. Mary was enchanted by his presence. He heard how she couldn't eat or sleep without thinking of him. When he returned and she had already birthed one child -and was with child again- he felt miserable. He was completely out of place and was tempted to write back to his master, begging for his resignation but then he overheard her wondering the halls.

 _She was supposed to be in confinement. Her hair was loose and she was crying. He followed her until she reached the gardens. He wondered aloud where the guards were and she told him that they were at a party her father was throwing in Philip's honor._

 _"He wants another son. He told me get another heir and you will be my priceless jewel again." Eustace immediately understood. 'Typical'. Henry VIII wanted her so she could give him more sons. He never cared about her happiness. If he had been in England, he would have warned her and she wouldn't have to go through this._

 _He sat next to her and pulled her to an embrace. Mary sobbed. "I can't remember if it is up or down that it is a boy or girl. I just want this to end."_

 _"My lady, my poor, sweet lady." He said._

 _She nearly fell asleep in his arms. He guided her back to her chambers before the morrow came. Eustace hadn't meant to fall in love with her but he did. And after Philip died he looked at himself in the mirror and told himself that he would march straight into the throne room and propose an Iberian royal for the Princess, but half way there he stopped._

Mary had already been miserable under one charming husband, what would a man with no morals and libertine as her father, do to her? Charles was angry, he wrote back to Eustace, giving him veiled threats but Eustace held his ground, giving him many convincing excuses as to why he hadn't done his bidding.

And then when Henry signed the agreement to marry her to King Francois, he panicked. A match like that would take her further away and turn into his master's enemy. He couldn't allow that. But before he could suggest that, he discovered that Henry had engineered for Francois I to come to England.

Marillac was good, he had to admit. But the Ambassador of France wasn't as good as Eustace and he informed his master at once. Unfortunately, by the time the news reached Charles, Francois had made his way to Calais. It was only a matter of time before he set sail to Dover. When he finally set foot on England, Mary was shocked. Like her great-grandmother, she rebelled and told her father before an entire audience of French and English courtiers that she would not marry him and go back to Hudson.

 _Her father wouldn't have that and told her to go back there and pay her respects to her future husband. Mary's response was "I'd rather take ten lashes then be married to that man. How could you do this to me?"_

 _"You are my daughter and you will do as I say. Now apologize to His Grace!"_

 _"No." Henry slapped her. The force of the slap was too much that she clutched her cheek afterwards. Instead of crying though, she just glared at her father and said "I will never forgive you for this" then ran back to her chambers._

 _Henry was twice humiliated by his daughter, and Francois too. But the latter was not about to be refused by a woman, one he overheard say to Marillac, was far beneath him. And being the Emperor's niece, made her more enticing._

To this day, he harbored nothing but pure hatred for the King of France. Henry VIII was irredeemable in his eyes, but what Francois I did was evil.

Mary hardly spoke about it. Her favorite lady Susan had been there, so had her impressionable new lady, Jane Dormer. Eustace told them they shouldn't blame themselves and instead focus on the present but for someone who had been too close to Mary and another who was too young, this was something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. As for Mary, the scars of what happened that day would never leave her.

He looked down at his fingers. In his middle one was a ring with the words 'Yours truly' in Latin. Mary wanted to give him something fancy, Eustace saw no need for it. Mary would not have 'no' for an answer so in the end he accepted it.

It was a shame that things had turned out this way. In his profession, he should have expected it. He didn't regret anything except putting his princess' life in danger. In spite of what the pope and the rest said, to them, their marriage was valid and as long as their children lived, people would know how much they loved each other.

 _Artemisia and Alexander._ He smiled. _What adventures await you._

* * *

 **A/N: That is it for now. One chapter to go.**

 **[1]** " ** _… La hija de Isabel Habsburgo y Enrique VIII de Inglaterra. En tus venas, corre la sangre de los reyes Catolicos y eres descendiente de las casas mas antiguas de Europa. Algun dia seras reina." Translation: The daughter of Isabella Habsburg and Henry VIII of Engalnd. You have the blood of Catholic Kings running through your veins. You are the descendant of the oldest houses of Europe. One day you shall be Queen."_**

 ***In reality Eustace Chapuys took holy orders before he became an Ambassador.**

 **** Eustace didn't lose his brother until later. But he did left England for over a year because Anglo-Spanish relations were not as stable and Charles showed more interest in forming an alliance with France. When Eustace returned, Henry was already married to Anne and their marriage was on the rocks. Anne of Cleves' union with Henry comes mostly from Charles de Marillac's reports.**


End file.
